Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-13-Speech-2-165"
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"en.20030513.9.2-165"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today the College of Commissioners has adopted an initiative which corresponds to a three-fold challenge relating to energy, which involves no more and no less than establishing trans-Euro-Mediterranean energy networks.
Finally, with regard to the infrastructures and energy network projects jointly established with these countries – I would like to insist on this point – I would like to stress that they are still of crucial importance, since they allow us to work towards clear objectives which we have decided jointly with the countries in question. Our cooperation must prevent a sort of list of demands – what we call in English a shopping list – in which there are no planning or financial priorities.
However, all these projects are of an indicative nature, they do not commit the Commission during this phase and their maturity will be determined by means of studies and depending on the interest of the private sector and hence their economic viability.
The Communication I am presenting to you today will be officially presented next week during the meeting of Energy Ministers, Euromed-Energy, to take place in Athens.
I intend to take advantage of this important initiative to support the communication whose content I have explained briefly and which I hope the honourable Members can analyse and study closely very soon, given its importance for the European Union's security of supply, and also in order to support and promote a stability plan and greater cooperation within the Union. And, by means of this greater cooperation, the economic development and the concept and models we maintain, according to which energy efficiency, respect for the environment and other aspects of this nature are of key importance.
The three-fold challenge relates firstly to the use of energy as a stability vector, of strategic importance to our relations with neighbouring countries, with our partners – we are talking about the ‘ring of friends’, which President Prodi mentioned – including the countries of the southern rim of the Mediterranean.
Secondly, we want to project our
and the principles which govern our internal market as a model for our regional neighbours to follow, based on the fact that our
and our operative system are being shown to stimulate economic development, growth and peoples’ well-being.
Thirdly, we must establish a range of projects for common energy networks which allow us to specifically define our priorities and thereby facilitate investment, both public and – in particular – private, in the energy sector in the future and on the part of the various European Union players and the different European Union governments.
This Communication is the first specific step we have taken since the positive reception of our communication, inspired by the President, in relation to the policy of cooperation with the ring of friends. We must not forget the conclusions of the Green Paper on energy, which clearly demonstrate that Europe depends on its neighbours to guarantee its energy supply.
By means of this Communication, the Commission intends to respond to these three challenges and proposes four specific objectives: firstly, increasing the European Union’s security of supply, but also that of our neighbours; secondly, to extend the benefits of the enlarged Union’s internal energy market to a Europe beyond our borders; thirdly, to support the modernisation of energy systems in the countries surrounding us; and finally, to promote the implementation of energy infrastructure projects which correspond to the Union’s strategic interests.
I would like briefly to comment on a series of important issues in this communication, which will surely be dealt with within the public debate which will subsequently take place, particularly when Parliament gives its opinion.
Firstly, the geographical area means that we must restrict ourselves to our closest neighbours – the Mediterranean in the south, Russia, Ukraine or any other country of the ring of friends – and that, in some cases, we must also deal with partners who are somewhat further away, but which border our neighbours. I am talking about Iran and the Caspian region, which are of unquestionable strategic importance from the point of view of energy for the European Union’s supply.
Secondly, the chapter dedicated to our relations with Russia is complete and is not restricted to aspects relating to the dialogue under way. Within this context, I would like to remind you of the importance of the proposals which are being developed within the framework of Euratom and which must lead the Council to issue a mandate to the Commission allowing us to negotiate all the aspects of energy exchanges within the context of global reciprocity and balance, which is absolutely essential given that we are on the eve of an enlargement involving ten countries, of which seven have nuclear installations, practically all of which – with one or two exceptions – involve Russian technology – originally Soviet – and are therefore supplied with fuel of a Russian origin."@en1
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